


bedtime

by aceofsparrows



Series: The Dragon Prince: 10 min prompts [2]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: 10 min prompt, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Moonfam shenanigans, Runaan is a softie, wee Rayla
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:02:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26837143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceofsparrows/pseuds/aceofsparrows
Summary: Runaan tries to coax a wee Rayla to go to bed.* * *Anon prompt from tumblr: Runaan and Rayla, whump situation. Perhaps one of them is sick or injured? Either way, the other takes good care of the one who is hurting.
Relationships: Ethari/Runaan (The Dragon Prince)
Series: The Dragon Prince: 10 min prompts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957576
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	bedtime

**Author's Note:**

> We do love ourselves a caring pseudo-father/daughter dynamic, don’t we?
> 
> I wrote this in 10 minutes with minimal editing! 
> 
> Enjoy ❤️

“Rayla, please,” Runaan sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. It was late, far later than the wee elfling should have been awake, and this was the most difficult she’d been in many moons. 

“No!” Came the stubborn reply from the shadows beneath Ethari’s workbench, and Runaan sighed again. 

“Rayla...” He closed his eyes, trying to keep himself from giving up altogether. “Rayla, I know you don’t want to go to sleep, but you’re sick, and it’s far past your bedtime. Please?” 

There was a moment of empty silence, and then Runaan heard a soft scuffle. He opened his eyes and found the small girl peeking out at him, her face half shrouded in moonlight. Her little nose and cheeks were flushed with fever, and her eyelids were starting to droop with fatigue. 

“I am getting a _little_ sleepy...” she relented, biting her lip. Runaan smiled softly. 

“Come on, little blade. Sick little elflings need soft beds and soup, not shadowy corners.” 

“I _guess_...” Rayla crawled out from under the workbench, letting Runaan scoop her up and wrap her in the blanket he had been holding. It was her favorite, embroidered by her mother with a dozen tiny moons and protection runes. 

By the time they reached her little bedroom at the back of the treehouse, Rayla’s breath was even, mouth open, a trail of drool on Runaan’s shoulder. Usually, such a thing would annoy him, but in this moment, he was just glad she’d found sleep so easily. Rayla didn’t like being vulnerable; unfortunately, that was a trait she’d both inherited from her mother and learned from Runaan himself. But dropping your guard in battle and letting a loved one take care of you when you were sick were two very different things, and he would have to teach her that distinction just as he was teaching her to use her twin blades. 

Love could never be a vulnerability, that he knew, and he hoped that someday Rayla would know that too. 


End file.
